Why Do We Say “Honestly...”?

Where did the word come from?

The word “honest” didn’t originally mean “telling the truth.” It comes from Latin honestus — meaning honorable, respectable, worthy of esteem. It was more about character than correctness. More about how you lived than what you said. As it moved through Old French (honeste) into Middle English around the 1300s, the meaning still leaned toward dignity and virtue. Only later, around the 1400s, did it shift toward what we use it for now: truthfulness and absence of deceit. So originally, honesty wasn’t something you declared. It was something you were known for.

“The advantage of telling the truth is that you don’t have to remember what you said.” - Mark Twain

A quieter, older word: Arjava

Long before “honestly…” became a conversational habit, there was a Sanskrit word that carried a deeper weight: Arjava — straightforwardness, sincerity, integrity. No qualifiers. No setup lines. No need to signal it. Just alignment between what you think, what you say, and what you do. Arjava is listed as one of the ten yamas (restraints) in the Shandilya Upanishad, a classical yoga text associated with the Atharvaveda, generally dated between roughly 100 BCE and 300 CE. It is also referenced in later yoga texts such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, reinforcing its place in traditional yogic ethics. In that framework:

• Arjava is honesty in conduct, simplicity, and straightforwardness
• Satya is truthfulness in speech

It’s a subtle but important distinction. Satya asks: Is what you’re saying true? Arjava asks: Are you straight, inside and out? One is about words. The other is about alignment.

A guiding reminder

My Guru, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami puts the foundation in perspective on Yamas and Niyamas:

“Through following the yamas and niyamas, we lift ourselves into the consciousness of the higher chakras—of love, compassion, intelligence and bliss—and naturally invoke the blessings of the divine.”

Himalayan Academy lays out Arjava, the eighth restraint, with clarity and simplicity here 👉🏽 Arjava

Back to everyday life

Here’s where it lands in real life. Every time one of those phrases slips into a conversation, there’s often a quiet, almost unnoticeable pause. Not from the person speaking, but from someone who has heard it enough times to catch it instantly. My business partner, Matt Monica, has a way of doing exactly that. Under his breath, almost automatically, he’ll say, “Always be honest.” He doesn’t interrupt. He doesn’t call anyone out. It’s not loud, and it’s not meant to correct in a heavy-handed way. It’s just there. Consistent. Almost like a steady background note that keeps things grounded. Over time, it sticks. More than you expect. I’ll find myself starting a sentence with, “To be honest…” and before I can even finish it, I hear it in my head. “Always be honest.” The sentence slows down. Sometimes it changes. Sometimes the opening just drops away completely. And here’s the honest part. I still use the phrase. More often than I’d like. But now I notice it. And that moment of awareness is enough to ask a simple question: why did I feel the need to say that in the first place? If honesty needs an introduction, it might still be negotiating. If it doesn’t… it’s already at work.

Always be honest - Matt monica